10/19/2016

Page 1

Inside A6 PHS senior attends Longwood VP debate

Powhatan, Virginia B1 Indians bounce back with 28-14 win

Vol. XXIX No. 41

October 19, 2016

Kenbridge Construction to build middle school By Laura McFarland News Editor

P

OWHATAN – The Powhatan County School Board last week voted to award Kenbridge Construction the roughly $30.1 million contract for the renovation and new construction of a new middle school. During their meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 11, the four school board members present at the meeting voted unanimously to have staff execute a contract with the construction company that won’t exceed $30,084,000. Joe Walters, who represents District 4, was present during the board’s workshop but had to leave before the meeting, when the vote was taken.

Bids for the project were received on Tuesday, Oct. 4 from five contractors, and Kenbridge Construction was the low bidder, Dr. Eric Jones, superintendent, said. Jones presented the board with a breakdown of costs for the $35 million school project, which is much firmer with the construction estimates included, he said. He pointed out that the county capital improvement program (CIP) had a placeholder of $35,327,000 for the new school project. This total includes the demolition of Powhatan Junior High School, construction of the new middle school, architecture and engineering costs, and other miscellaneous expenses. With the construction bid now

more firm, an early estimate of the project has it coming in at $35,113,415, which is $213,585 below what is in the county CIP for the project, Jones said. “The great news is that we are under budget in terms of this construction contract, which out of a $35 million project is almost all of the project,” he said. “So we are very excited about that, especially when we heard some very frightening stories from neighboring districts that have seen projects coming in 15 to 20 percent over budget and have had to scrap those projects and not proceed with them because they are so far over budget.” see MIDDLE page 2A

Foster adding programming as new director of YMCA By Laura McFarland News Editor

POWHATAN – For Adam Foster, becoming the executive director of the Elizabeth Randolph Lewis Powhatan YMCA was both a new challenge and a return home. Foster started work as the new executive director on Aug. 29, and although the role is new to him, he previously spent seven years at Powhatan’s YMCA – the same place where he had his first fulltime job. “I am excited to be back in the Powhatan community. It is a tight-knit comPHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND munity. We serve a diverse population, and I am excited to be here to serve that Adam Foster has been hired as the new executive director of

PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND

Katharine Bryan, left, lead interpreter at Powhatan State Park, and Savannah Guest, park interpreter, take a canoe down the park’s new canoe launch, which opened this month.

State park to open new campground By Laura McFarland News Editor

POWHATAN – Powhatan State Park will mark one of its biggest milestones since opening three years ago with the expected launch in early November of a new water/electric campground. The River Bend Campground, which could open as early as Nov. 1, will offer visitors a chance to camp under the stars at their choice of 29 new campsites equipped with water and electricity, Matthew

Prsrt. Standard U.S. POSTAGE PAID Powhatan, VA Permit No.19

the Elizabeth Randolph Lewis Powhatan YMCA and has plenty see FOSTER page 9A of plans for growing programming for members.

All Powhatan schools fully accredited By Laura McFarland News Editor

DELIVER TO: Postal Patron Powhatan, VA 23139

see PARK page 3A

POWHATAN – Powhatan County Public Schools recently learned that all of its schools had earned full accreditation, a feat achieved by only 39 of 132 school divisions in the state. As a result of earning full accreditation for three consecutive years, all six Powhatan public schools, including the now closed Powhatan Junior High School, have been automatically fully accredited through 2019, the Powhatan County School Board heard during its meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 11. Dr. Tracie Omohundro, as-

sistant superintendent for instruction, gave a presentation to the school board on the district’s success at being accredited for the 2015-2016 school year based on Standards of Learning (SOL) results and graduation rates. “This additional accreditation status does allow us to take a look at other things we can do in our classrooms other than just SOLs and meeting those baseline benchmarks. So that is something we are looking forward to in the coming years to be able to move the dial forward a little with that,” she said. The district’s SOL results show that there are areas where

the district improved, saw drops or stayed the same, she said. “We saw increases in reading, math and writing across the board. We did see a decrease of two points in history and one point in science, and we increased or maintained scores in 18 of 28 SOL subtests that we did. Those were as a division,” Omohundro said.

Closing the achievement gap One focus in the last school year was closing the achievement gap with a few specific groups – black students, students with disabilities and economically disadvantaged stu-

dents, Omohundro said. The latest SOL scores showed improvement in all three gap groups but demonstrated that the district still has work to do, she added. For instance, reading and math scores for black students increased by 4 and 8 points, respectively, over the 2014-2015 school year. However, scores were still behind the total population of students by 17 points in reading and 23 points in math. In the same comparison of years, students with disabilities saw a 1 point increase in reading and 6 point increase in see SCHOOLS page 9A

Wine festival to draw thousands to Village area Contributed Report Powhatan’s Festival of the Grape returns for its 14th year on Saturday, Oct. 22 in the Historic Courthouse Village, bringing together dozens of wineries and a wide variety of vendors to entertain thousands of guests. The festival will be held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the village area, located at 3887 Old Buckingham Road. Festivalgoers purchase a tasting pass that includes a wine glass and pours from 30 Virginia wineries. Attendees can save $5 by purchasing in advance. Adult tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the gate. Tickets for youth ages 13 to 21 are $15 in advance and $20 at the gate. Online sales end at 11:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 21. The showcase of the day is the vineyards, which come from across the state to participate. see WINE page 10A

FILE PHOTO BY LAURA MCFARLAND

Thousands are expected to arrive in Powhatan this weekend for the 14th annual Festival of the Grape.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
10/19/2016 by Powhatan Today - Issuu